cherry blossom festival

As Japan enters the annual cherry blossom festival season, and tourists going elsewhere, had been subjected to intimidation of fears of radiation from the nuclear crisis that broke hard in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Tokyo, with shops, restaurants, stylish high-end, has long been a favorite destination for wealthy tourists, particularly from Japan's neighboring countries such as fast-growing China.

And triggered a crisis on the crippled power plant Fukushima and reports of radiation in food a wave of canceled out by foreign visitors, dealing another blow to airlines, shops and restaurants in an economy already suffering from weak domestic consumption.

As tourists stay away, as it would be bad news for the holding companies store Mitsukoshi Isetan (3099.T) and Nippon will be applied (8237.T), as well as retail stores and electronics Laox Co. (8202.T), are all popular with visitors.

"Sales of overseas tourists, particularly Chinese, in the high-end goods and personal electronics continued to grow, but this will depend certainly," said Takayuki Suzuki, a retail analyst at Primo Research Japan.

"Many of the concerns raised and increased levels of radiation ..., so I see a lot of tourists to avoid Japan for a year, at least," he said.

In upscale Ginza district, tourist draw of the Department of the sprawling warehouses and shops are expensive, and the crowds were noticeably thinner at the end of this week before the national holiday on Monday.

"We got a lot of visitors from China, Russia and elsewhere during the cherry blossom season, but after the destruction of the tragic it is difficult to see a lot of tourists this year," said Shigeyuki Ando, ​​Branch Manager Ginza of Cloissone Ando, ​​a boutique selling ceramic traditional price.

He said another manager in the store and the store usually makes up to 10 percent of its sales of foreigners in the peak season, said he saw little of European visitors over the weekend, the Chinese do not.

Count on Asia

It was expected to travel and tourism to contribute to approximately 7 per cent in GDP for Japan this year, or 33 trillion yen, according to the International Air Transport Association, and is expected to be likely to be reduced after the quake.

Shrinking due to population aging and deflationary pressures, and prompted Japan to attract more tourists to compensate for weak domestic consumption, especially from other regions in Asia.

And visited a record number 9440000 foreigners in Japan last year. Chinese jumped by more specific than a third to around 1.6 million people, Taiwan has exceeded the presence of most visitors to Japan, South Korea and beyond.

He said Hong Kong Travel Industry Council and canceled all flights from Hong Kong to Japan until the middle of next month. Said Joseph Tung, Executive Director of the Board of Travel Japan usually accounts for 20-30 percent of tourists from Hong Kong.

"People are worried. Until the situation improves and clear, I do not think that people do not have any interest to visit Japan," said Tung.